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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

The Comics Jounal

Had occasion today to be part of a meeting discussing a new magazine from KPMG (the global cabal/accountant firm). My participation in this magazine - aimed at brainwashing soon-to-be college grads into throwing their lot in with the company - will be a single full-page, full-color comic.

I say 'will be,' because at this early stage of the game, there are many, many hurdles to overcome, not least of which is the conservative and humorless nature of a global accounting firm that's headquartered in Switzerland. OF course, I could be wrong about that - after all, think of the famous Swiss comedian,

... uh...

Well, you know. They've got famously private banks with favorable tax laws for foreign investment, a lot of chocolate and a sense of really kind of being off to one side of history. They're too busy with all that to actually go all the way with it and become Jews by developing a culture of humor. That and the fact that they probably hate Jews.

Anyhow, my anxiety radar immediately went off, because I can see what's coming and will be unable to avoid it: a comic by committee with seriously questionable attempts to be hip by design, as to appeal to the college crowd. Well, to appeal to the college crowd that would think of joining a global accountancy firm right out of college, so I guess the 'hip factor' can be pretty negligible, after all.

Still: full-color, full-page, published comics work that pays. Hard to say 'no' to that. Nice portfolio piece, and maybe a good shot in the ego department for the illustrator in me. My illustrator's ego took several crippling blows between arriving at the Rhode Island School of Design having been a star of my high school art crowd to find that I'd been demoted to walk-on part, and the one-two punch in at the end of my stay there, with: 1) a severely damaging portfolio review at the Society of Illustrators in New York that left me sobbing in the basement of that august institution, and 2) the rejection of my submission of At the End of the World with my Sister to the Xeric Grant for self-published comic creators.

Looking back on all that: man, what a whiny pussy I was!

However, I know the dangerous area of self-doubt I'm sailing into here, and I have to be careful not to get too involved.

Money. Published. Portfolio.

Dave Kopperman, Illustrator? That has a nice ring...

...and somehow, I have to come up with three samples by this Friday. Good fucking luck, Dave Kopperman, Illustrator. I'll be waiting for you at the bar with Dave Kopperman, Animator, and Dave Kopperman, Singer/Songwriter.

Ugh, that day at the Illustrator's Society. I'll admit it wouldn't have been such a blow if I hadn't already been extremely frustrated with my work. I was already 85% sure that I wasn't going into professional illustration, and that day just gave me the other 20%. (Yes, that's 105%).

I did get your message, thanks, but a little late. I'll check the Oswalt show in archives. I've already caught a few interviews with him - with Ratatouille and his new tour and album, he's really been making the rounds. I've found that when I hear too many interviews from one period with anyone, they start to repeat themselves... even their ad libs, which sort of spoils the illusion.